


She Doesn't Notice

by WhiteFoxKitsune (ProwlingThunder)



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Missing Friends, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 02:03:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8126156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProwlingThunder/pseuds/WhiteFoxKitsune
Summary: An old fic I wrote about Sakura pining for Sasuke and learning to love Sai by proximity instead.





	

As she watched him sit there, silently, she realizes for the first time he does not have a drawing pad in his lap. It sits off to the side, and she sees that it is a drawing of the capital of Fire Country. She had been there only once, and she wonders why she remembered such a place so vividly.  
  
She doesn't know why she's watching him, or how long it's been, and she doesn't know he sensed the shift in the wind and he knows that she is there. And she doesn't see the look on his face, doesn't see his eyes sparkling so full of wonder and curiosity that isn't normally there, as he thinks about what she's thinking.  
  
And then when she stands up and shakes her head, walking away from him, she wonders what he thought about, and why he's thinking about it, because he's still sitting there and she just can't stand the silence, even though she's been in it for eternity it seems.  
  
And he knows she's leaving, and he wonders why she's going, and where she's going to, and why he feels downhearted by her departure.  
  
~~~~  
  
She sees him later with his drawing pad nestled on his lap, and she wonders what he's drawing but she doesn't look because she's across the room. And Naruto is seated on the table slurping ramen, and Kakashi is nowhere to be found, and Yamato hasn't come either.  
  
And as he makes another crack about the bubbling blond, she hides her smile behind the pages of her book, her bright green eyes staring into his own dark ones that remind her so much of a man she hates to love and loves to hate and she realizes he's looking at her, too.  
  
And the spark that flashes between them, makes her realize this tense silence is much more comfortable then those in the past, and she wonders, why is she wondering about the man she's lost, when she can help the one before her too?  
  
Naruto doesn't like him, he's not like the other. Sakura agrees, but she doesn't dislike the one before her, either, though she may pity him.  
  
She relises how strange it must feel to be hated by both your teammates, and is glad she's never had to feel it, but she knows what being lonely is because he is gone from their lives, and for a moment she reaches up and fingers her headband, remembering the day she put it on her forehead.  
  
She didn't loose, it was a tie..but she did loose, didn't she, because he didn't see her worthy of sticking around with, because she didn't win.  
  
She finds it strange that she's thinking about him, and she doesn't notice the looks on her teammates faces as she reminisces about the past.  
  
~~~~  
  
He catches site of her sitting on a bench on the road leading out of the village. He doesn't know how many times they've passed that bench, but he knows he's never seen her cast it a second glance.  
  
This picture in his mind of her is shattered; strong, powerful, hateful, ugly. It's replaced with the picture he sees before him, because she's sitting there, caressing the stone bench as though it's a long lost love, and the wet pools on the concrete indicate she's crying.  
  
He doesn't know why he wants to go hold her, comfort her, and he wouldn't know how if he did, even though he wishes she would be half as tender with him as she is to the cold hard rock.  
  
In his confusion, she doesn't see him turn away and run.  
  
~~~~  
  
It doesn't take long for him to come to a conclusion, and now he understands why his teammates don't like him and wont even try.  
  
The bingo book lays open on his lap, and he's been flipping through pages all morning, and on a table to his right rests a glass of water and a book of all students and teachers dating back to the creation of the village, and yes, now he understands.  
  
He understands real well as his eyes rest upon the page of a missing nin with dark hair and dark eyes that almost matched his own, and he knows why neither of them try, and why Kakashi-sensei doesn't seem to notice him and Yamato-sensei distrusts him and Naruto hates the air he breathes.  
  
It's because he looks like him, because he is meant to replace him, and he just can't, because they wont even give him a chance and he's a different person.  
  
And he realizes there is only one way to get a chance to be accepted by them, and he knows he mustn't mess it up, and later as he passes by the medic nin he's known only a short time, she doesn't notice he doesn't call her ugly.  
  
~~~~  
  
She finds him later on, nestled in a corner in the library, and she doesn't know how she knew to find him here, and she doesn't know why he has a doujutsu book opened on his lap, and why history books and bloodline limit chapters lay open on the floor in front of him.  
  
But she does notice the scroll laying next to him, and the way his hands move quickly to write down information, and the Uchiha fan is painted on the wall above him.  
  
And she doesn't know why he sat here, or why she's sitting down before him, and why he looks up. But she notices he just watches her, and doesn't speak, and she realizes he just isn't acting normal right now, and wondered what was wrong.  
  
"I came to find you." She told him, her lips stressing a smile. When he doesn't make a move to acknowledge what she's saying, she takes it as a sign to continue. "You've been missing for a week, you know.. we were starting to get worried."  
  
She couldn't be totally truthful on that, Naruto's words had consisted somewhere along the lines of Thank God He's Gone, and Kakashi-sensei had seen him only once in a while so it wasn't as disconcerting, though Yamato-sensei had seemed disgruntled by the fact.  
  
It seemed no one else trusted him, but he was just like everyone else. She saw no reason not to trust him with small things if he proved himself worthy.  
  
And so she figured she should trust him now, because she had no one else to go to. "I..well..you know, there is a festival in Tea Country this week..I thought, maybe, we could go...." She trailed off, looking at the floor, and her eyes spied a passage in the book before her.  
  
The origin of the Sharingan unknown, it is believed to be a branch of the Byakugan. Despite this belief, the Sharingan was still one of the most feared bloodline jutsus, surpassed only by that of the-  
  
"Alright."  
  
She looked up in start, having barely caught his answer. She had not been expecting him to even reply, little lone much else, like fold up his books and roll his scroll and slip his writing pencil behind his ear and stand.  
  
And then he held his hand down to her, and smiled brightly, and she sensed it was forced, but what she doesn't notice can't hurt her, and she doesn't notice the glint in his eye that is usually hidden.  
  
~~~~  
  
She finds him guilty later, as he walks into view on the main road and she is waiting by the gates with a collection of what used to be the Twelve, guilty of being so very similar.  
  
He's dressed normally, and casual attire looks so good on him, and Ino is stating how much they look alike and inside, she is crying, because they are not the same and she misses him.  
  
No one misses him more then she does.  
  
And she doesn't notice he keeps his distance and he glowers at Ino and he doesn't say a word.  
  
~~~~  
  
At the festival she doesn't see him.  
  
She sees Naruto making a fool of himself, because he doesn't have a date, and she sees Kiba and Akamaru throwing rings for Hinata and Ino is standing besides Shikamaru, and the rest are scattered somewhere else.  
  
But there is Neji leaning on a wall, and as she takes a step to him, he turns to her briefly, as if knowing what she's going to ask. And then he shakes his head and flicks a finger behind her, and she spins and sees him.  
  
And there he is, in a lush kimono designed with roses, the threading is pink but the kimono is blacker then black. And she smiles at him, thankful he is there, and for once, his smile is true.  
  
She doesn't notice how thankful she is to have him nearby.  
  
~~~~  
  
She sees him later on, once their back in their village.  
  
He's shopping for weaponry, gearing up for a mission she didn't know existed, because none had been assigned to them, because the Chuunin exam was starting, and Naruto had entered.  
  
When she confronts him, he doesn't say anything, but he shakes his head in a motion for her not to ask, and she realizes, he's begging her.  
  
She doesn't notice why.  
  
~~~~  
  
He sees her right before he's going to leave. The Hokage had asked her to come to her office, he realizes, but she gets there early, just as he's exiting.  
  
She doesn't notice who he is until he passes by her, but he's wearing a mask so she doesn't see his face, she just feels a spark of knowing.  
  
And he is thankful he got to see her before leaving, got to see her stare at his form for just a moment, and then he turns a corner and the lady Hokage calls her inside.  
  
He's asked her not to tell her, please trust me, please, even Danzou-sama doesn't know, I'll bring him back, I wont fail, please. And she agreed not to tell her, it was his right, she said, but you come back safe now, or it might break her.  
  
And he smiled, thankful, and then he left.  
  
Sakura-sama missed him, and if he had even a slight chance, he'd have to bring him back.  
  
~~~~  
  
She noticed he's missing- no one will tell her why. It seems everyone knows but her, and it annoys her. Because it's everyone but HER, and they wont tell her anything!  
  
But she goes to watch the exams a month later and is thankful she can be there, although ruefully, she remembers that Naruto wasn't there for her's. She remembers, also, neither was Sasuke, and she is glad someone can be here for the blond.  
  
The trials are held in Sunagakure, and while figures are difficult to distinguish on the horizon, spots are not. Despite that, the arena for the final challenge is out in the open and a cool breeze is blowing, and she stands between Tsunade-sensei and Gaara-kun, and watches.  
  
And she doesn't hear the shout that comes from the man Naruto is fighting, and she doesn't notice the blond rip the man's arm off.  
  
~~~~  
  
There is a ball after the matches.  
  
Sakura dresses nicely, but she doesn't realizes what she's wearing, and she's not sure she cares. Red rose petals flow down the left sleeve of the pale pink kimono, and black roses trail on the portion below the obi and coil along the right sleeve. The obi itself is simply black with pure white petals sew into it, and Shizune-sama has her pink hair pinned up and she knows, but doesn't know why she knows, that she is beautiful.  
  
Gaara-kun asks her to dance, and she gladly accepts while his groupies mope, but halfway through the waltz she spies something she hasn't seen in a long, long while.  
  
And there is Sasuke, wearing a two-layered kimono for elegance during the desert's hot nights, while still trying to wear a presentable court kimono. The inner layer is black while the outside is blue, the Uchiha fan stitched unsurely into the back and on the right breast.  
  
His black hair is longer now, tied back into a slim ponytail with his bangs hanging before his ears. His dark eyes gaze around the crowd and then rest on her for a moment, and then almost in shame he turns his glance to the floor.  
  
An almost brotherly hand touches his shoulder and the Uchiha looks up to his left, and so that's where her green eyes turn too.  
  
There is Sai, no more worse off then he had been when she'd last seen him at the weapon shop, but there is a scar over his left eye that wasn't there before. His kimono is the same as it was at the festival, and like he was before, he is wearing a dark obi, much like Sasuke is beside him.  
  
His dark eyes turn to her too, and so Sasuke looks at her again, unsure and hesitant. And then Sai smiles, but it breaks because he sees her tears, and then slowly it forms again, as she latches herself onto him, crying.  
  
Hesitantly, he strokes her hair and smiles. "Can..can I have, a second chance?"  
  
Slowly she drew away from him and smiled too, and then she latched arms with both of them, and drug them over to bombard Tsunade-sama with questions.  
  
She doesn't notice Sasuke and Sai share similar looks.  
  
~~~~  
  
Sasuke tries to fit in better, though his unsurety is a shocking change from his confident demeanor before.  
  
Kakashi-sama is proud to have his prodigy back, but as curious as he is to know why, why, why, only Tsunade, Sakura, and Sai know why.  
  
"I needed power. To either kill him or protect my family." Sasuke had told them, and then turned to look at Sakura. But his eyes darted to Sai, and he realizes, she deserved another chance, another person. "I didn't kill him..but now he can't kill anyone I bring forth."  
  
Naruto is glad to have his rival back, glad to be on similar terms. They smacked one another around several times a week to make sure, your still here, your back, your back, stupid dobe, bakayaro.  
  
Yamato-sensei hasn't left them yet, and so Sakura is fine for six-man teams. It's not orthodox, but when have they ever been?  
  
~~~~  
  
Months later, thanks to a special medical jutsu by to her truly, Sakura finds Naruto pacing in the hospital waiting room. Sai is drawing by the window and Kakashi has his nose in the book. Yamato-sensei is doing undercover work, ridding the village of Danzou.  
  
Sai is under protection, Orochimaru was not happy about loosing Sasuke but many Konoha shinobi have reported being helped by the Akatsuki. Sakura believes Itachi may just kill Orochimaru one day if he comes nearby- it seems the missing nin is protecting Konoha.  
  
The Konoha Twelve are not happy about some things, but they'll deal- Naruto's not alone anymore, Sasuke is happy -though, by the things he's shouting at Tsunade, the next few months for Naruto may be difficult-, and finally, all the smiles on Sai's face are real.  
  
And she finally notices, notices why she's so happy they are.


End file.
